Speak Up: Raising the Voices of Women – Module 1

Speak Up: Raising the Voices of Women – Module 1

I have been a member of Bryant Park Toastmasters for 15 years and owe my speaking career to both Toastmasters and NSA. When I went to our District 46 conference last May, I observed 8 people competing in the speech contest – only one of whom was a woman. I was inspired to raise the voices of women in District 46 and created my High Performance Leadership Project entitled Speak Up: Raising the Voices of Women.

Speak Up was created to educate, mentor and support women in District 46 Toastmasters. I have been a member of Bryant Park Toastmasters for 15 years now and we are part of District 46.

The objective was to create a project to help women (and men) raise their voices in order to compete effectively, especially in the International Speech contest. The project focuses on the voices of women and how men and women can effectively support the vision of more women competing, from the club level up. It was important for me to help women find their voices and I felt this High Performance Leadership Project fit in well with the work I do empowering lives through movement.

Lisa Panarello (District 83 finalist, 2010) and Karol Ward (District 26 finalist, 2010) were my guests for Module 1. Our discussion included why women may not be competing, what may be holding them back, and included clothing and even a hair and make-up conversation! I hope you enjoy this audio interview of Module 1.